Rocking-horse.



F MA GEE ROCKING HORSE. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 9, 1910.

Patented May 2, 1911.

2 SHBBTS-SHEET 1.

93 mm W abl mmaq F. MAGEE.

ROCKING HORSE.

APPLIOATION IILED SEPT. 9, 1910.

991,334. Patented May 2, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

unrTnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK MAGEE, OF PORT HURON, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR T0 HANNAH E. BRISBIN, OF PORT HURON, MICHIGAN.

ROCKING-HORSE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 9, 1910.

Patented May 2, 1911.

Serial No. 581,145.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK MAGEE, a citizen of Ontario, Dominion of Canada, residing at Port Huron, in the county of St. Clair and State of Michigan, have invented new and useful Improvements in Rocking-Horses, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to rocking horses for children, and the principal object of the invention is to provide a rocking horse so constructed that the head can be turned from one side to the other so that in riding or driving the horse, the guiding or steering by the reins can be more nearly simulated.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved rocking horse in which the same consists of head and body sections hingedly connected together, and with which a leaf spring is combined in such a manner that the head section will be normally disposed in alinement with the body section but will be capable of being turned to either side for the purpose of enabling the child to imitate the driving and steering of an actual horse.

lVith these objects in view and others, as will appear as the description proceeds, the invention comprises the various novel features of construction and arrangement of parts which will be more fully described hereinafter and set forth with particularity in the claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one embodiment of the invention, Figure l is a side view of a rocking horse. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section thereof. Fig. is a plan view of the horse. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on line 44E, Fig. 2. Fig. is a similar view showing the head section turned to the left.

Similar reference characters are employed to designate corresponding parts throughout the views.

In the present instance, I have elected to illustrate the invention as applied to a rocking or hobby horse, but it is to be understood that it can be applied to other toy animals that are either ridden or driven by children for amusement.

Referring to the drawings, A designates the body section, and 2 the head section of a rocking horse, said sections being arranged on a suitable mounting so that a rocking motion can be imparted to the horse by the child riding the same.

Attached to the body section I and extending longitudinally of the back and abdomen and chest are metal strips 3 and 4, respectively, which proj ect from the forward end of the 'body section and overlap the rear part of the head section, and passing through the forward ends of these strips are screws or other fastenings 5 that serve as pivots for connecting the two sections of the body together, said screws being disposed in a common line which is oblique to the perpendicular. This permits the head section to be turned to the right or left at the will of the rider, the head section being provided with a bridle 6 having driving reins 7. The head section is preferably, although not neces sarily, a solid block, whereas the body section is in the form of a shell or hollow structure.

Extending longitudinally of the body section is a leaf spring 8 which has its rear end disposed between the posts or rollers 9 fastened in the rear part of the body section. The front end of the spring 8 is anchored in the head section so that the spring will tend to keep the twosections in alinement. When the head section is turned to the right or left, the leaf spring will be flexed or bowed so that the tension of the spring will bring the head section back into alinement with the body section when the pull on the reins is released. During this flexing of the leaf spring, the free end will slide between the posts 9 freely, but the bowing of the spring will be limited by the middle portion thereof striking one side wall or the other of the body.

The rear end of the head section is rounded on a circle whose center coincides with the axis formed by alining screws 5 and the front end of the body section is concave to conform to the convex curvature of the head section. In this convex surface of the head section is formed a recess 10 that terminates preferably forwardly of the axis on which the head section swings, and the spring 8 extends into this recess and enters a socket '11 in the front wall of the recess, whereby the spring is anchored securely in the head section. This allows the spring to be flexible from a point in front of the pivotal axis of the head section so that a spring of greater length proportionally can be used, and also so that the head section may turn around farther from the right or left before the flexed spring strikes the side walls of the body section, since by this arrangement as the spring flexes toward one side of the rear section, the anchored end moves in the opposite direction, thus permitting greater latitude within given limits.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new, is

1. An amusement device comprising an animal composed of hingedly connected head and body sections, the body section having its front end recessed on an arc concentric with the axis on which the head section swings and the head section having its rear end shaped to fit the said recess, and a leaf spring extending longitudinally of the sec-- tions and arranged to yieldingly hold the latter in alinement.

2. An amusement device comprising an animal composed of a head section having front legs, a body section having rear legs, means located between the front and rear legs for connecting the sections together to permit the head section to be turned to the right or left, and means connected with the sect-ions and disposed within the latter to yieldingly hold them in alinement.

An amusement device comprising an animal composed of a head section, a body section, means for connecting the sections together to permit the head section to be turned to the right or left, and a leaf spring having one end anchored in and Wholly supported by one section and the opposite end movably connected with the other section to hold the sections normally in alinement.

&. An amusement device comprising a head section, a body section, means for pivotally connecting the sections together to permit the head section to turn laterally, and a spring extending longitudinally of the sections and connected to the latter respectively at opposite sides of-the axis on which the head section swings.

5. An amusement device of the class described comprising a head section, a body section, means for pivotally connecting the sections together, and a leaf spring having one end anchored in the head section at a point in front of the axis on which said section swings and loosely connected with the body section at a point behind such axis for normally holding the sections in alinement.

(S. An amusement device of the class described comprising a head section, a body section, means for pivotally connecting the sections together, and a leaf spring having one end anchored in the head section at a point in front of the axis on which said section swings and loosely connected with the body section at a point behind such axis for normally holding the sections in alinement, said body section having side walls with which the spring engages for limiting the flexing of the spring and the lateral swinging movement of the head section.

In testimony whereof I atiix my signature in presence of two witnesses;

FRANK MAGEE.

\Vitnesses JOHN W. ARNEY, E. C. SKIMIN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

